Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Shastra is the only pramana for self-knowledge part 2

I wanted to touch on two points - one of which I forgot to mention in my last post.

The first adhikartvam for jnAnA for those considered unfit or unqualified for the study ofthe VedAs.(Brahmasutra 1.3.38). Here Shankara does admit that such persons, as aresult of good works done in their past lives, can indeed gain self-knowledgefrom the ItihAsAs and PurAnAs, instead of directly from the VedAs. The point tobe noted here is that theseÂ scriptures are indeedÂ based on the VedAs alone,and have the VedAs alone as their source.

For example - this is how the RAmAyanA is presented-

Vedavedye pare pumsi Jate DasarathatmajeVedah Pracetasadasit Saksadramayanatmana"As the Supreme Being, who is so exalted as to be known by the Vedas, was bornthe son of Dasaratha, the Vedas themselves took birth as the child of Valmiki[in the form of the Ramayana]."

And of course the MahAbhAratA is popularly referred to as the fifth VedA.

So one can see that the PuranAs, and even the itihAsAs,Â are nothing but theVedAs in essence.On a side note, in this context about VidurA, it is interesting to note thewords of the Wise VidurA himself in the MahAbhAratA, Note here how the King, akshartiyA, and recognizes and acknowledges, ViDurAchArya who by birth is aShudrA, as his teacher, and how ViduRa himself, though Wise, responds by aadherence to Dharma....the following passage well illustrates the concept ofDharmA in our tradition.***Dhritarashtra said: If there is anything still left unsaid by thee, O Vidura,say it then, as I am ready to listen to thee. The discourse is, indeed,charming.Vidura said: O Dhritarashtra, O thou of the Bharata race, that ancient andimmortal Rishi Sanat-sujata who, leading a life of perpetual celibacy, has saidthat there is no Death. That foremost of all intelligent persons will expound tothee all the doubts in thy mind, both expressed and unexpressed.Dhritarashtra said: Do thou not know what that immortal Rishi will say unto me?O Vidura, do thou say it, if indeed, thou hast that degree of wisdom.Vidura said: I am born in the Sudra order and, therefore, do not venture to saymore than what I have already said. The understanding, however, of that Rishi,leading a life of celibacy, is regarded by me to be infinite. He that is aBrahmana by birth, by discoursing on even the profoundest mysteries, neverincurs the censure of the gods. It is for this alone that I do not discourse tothee, upon the subject.Dhritarashtra said: Tell me, O Vidura, how with this body of mine I can meetwith that ancient and immortal one (Sanat-sujata)?Vaisampayana said: Then Vidura began to think of that Rishi of rigid vows. Andknowing that he was thought of, the Rishi, O Bharata, showed himself there.Vidura then received him with the rites prescribed by ordinance. And then afterhaving rested a while, the Rishi was seated at his ease.Vidura addressed him, saying: O illustrious one, there is a doubt inDhritarashtra's mind which is incapable of being explained away by me. Itbehoveth thee, therefore, to expound it, so that listening to thy discourse,this chief of men may tide over all his sorrows, and to that gain and loss, whatis agreeable and what disagreeable, decrepitude and death, fright and jealousy,hunger and thirst, pride and prosperity, dislike, sleep, lust and wrath, anddecrease and increase may all be borne by him."***

The second point has to do with mystics. Mystics arecertainly not a 20th or 21st century phenomenon! From Meerabai to Sant Kabir toGuru Nanak to Sant Tukaram there are hundreds of thousands of mystics who haveever graced our land. Shankara in the Sutrabhashyas does make a reference tothem [- I had previously quoted this, not too long ago,Â but i think it is worthrepeating here again -]

***Purvapakshin: Your account does not leave open the possibility of the authorityof the Smrti-texts, such as the Yoga Sutras and the Samkhya source-texts, or theauthority of rishis like Kapila. The Samkhya is also not concerned with thingsthat are "to be done" but only with true knowledge, which is the means torelease. But there is no room in your account for the texts of the Samkhya andso they thereby become meaningless. Since many people cannot understand themeaning of the shruti-texts, they rely on the Smrti-texts, which are composed byrecognized authorities (prakhyata-pranatr). And the knowledge (jnana) of suchmen, like Kapila, is said to be unobstructed (aprahita) like that of the rishi(arsha).

Siddanta: If we admit your doctrine, then it, in turn, will render otherSmrti-doctrines useless (like the "Vedantic" portions of the Gita, e.g.). And itis not possible for someone to perceive (upalabhate) super-sensory (ati-indriya)objects (artha) without the aid of revelation (shrutim-antarena), because thereare no means (nimitta) to do so.Purvapakshin: It is possible in the case of siddhas like Kapila because theyhave unobstructed (aprahita) knowledge (jnana).

Answer: No, because powers (siddhi) such as super-sensory perception aredependent upon certain practices (anushthana) and such practices arecharacterized by things that are "to be done" (codana).

Nor can we count on some recognized (prasiddha) sage (mahatmya) like Kapila,since even here there will be no foundation, because the teachings of theserecognized sages (mahatmya), as well as the founders of the other schools(tirthakara, i.e., the Buddha, Mahavira, etc.), all mutually contradict oneanother (paraspara-vipratipatti).

Besides, even assuming that we can trust in the authority of these siddhas,because they instruct by way of so many different doctrines (bahu-siddhanta),their teachings will all be in conflict (vipratipatti) with one another. Andthen, as people are multiform (vaishvarupa) in their opinion (mati), (if weaccept these teachings) the undesirable consequence (prasanga) will follow thattruth (tattva) will be unregulated and without basis (avyapasthana). The Vedicrevelation, on the other hand, is an absolutely independent (nirapeksham) andself-constituting authority (svarthe pramanyam). But human dicta(purusha-vacasam) are dependent upon an external basis and mediated (vyavahita)by memory (smrti) and discourse (vaktr).

(Brahma Sutra Bhashya 2.1.1)

***

Shankara concludes this section with a very categorical assertion -

"We have thus established the perfection of this - our knowledge- which reposeson the Upanishads, and as apart from it perfect knowledge is impossible, itsdisregard would lead to 'absence of final release' of the transmigrating souls."